Canadian society has come a long way in encouraging tolerance and accommodation. Generally speaking, laws and attitudes have evolved for the better when it comes to the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities, women, the disabled and others who historically have faced discrimination.

In ancient Greece, warring sides would sign a truce for the duration of the Olympic Games so athletes could safely join the sporting festival. That ideal, sport as a bridge to peace, still endures despite the modern Games being darkened so often by scandal.

On Jan. 5, 1893, founding editor Fr. John Teefy introduced the debut issue of The Catholic Register to Canada’s growing Catholic community with these words: “We are a Catholic journal — Catholic first, last and always.

For much of the past two decades, Christmas celebrations in the birthplace of Christ have been muted. Recent Decembers, however, have seen Bethlehem start to become a more joyous place and the annual Christmas tree lighting last month in Manger Square was said to be the most festive in years.

The only miracle that Jesus performed recounted in all four Gospels is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, more commonly called the feeding of the 5,000 (or 4,000 in Mark’s Gospel, but who was counting precisely?).